LA RESPONSABILIDAD CIVIL EN EL SECTOR AGROALIMENTARIO (CUANDO SE REFIERE A CAUSAS ATRIBUIBLES EXCLUSIVAMENTE AL MEDIO AMBIENTE Y NO A LA ACCIÓN HUMANA) Y EL RÉGIMEN DEL DERECHO DE SEGUROS RELACIONADO

Resumen

The article examines civil liability in the agri-food sector when the damage or insecurity of the product is linked to causes attributable exclusively to the environment, and analyzes the role of insurance law in the distribution of these risks. First, it reconstructs the transformation of the concept of “environment” in Italy and Spain: from an object dominated by the patrimonial logic of nineteenth-century property to a transversal constitutional value, which drives the paradigm of “ecological property” and projects duties of stewardship and sustainability onto individuals. Secondly, it argues that private law is moving towards a more ecocentric approach: good faith and general clauses incorporate obligations of prevention, information and cooperation, while civil liability faces evidentiary problems specific to climate risk. In the agri-food field, the exoneration for fortuitous event or force majeure in the face of natural pollutants and extreme events is discussed, highlighting the tendency to require qualified professional diligence, traceability and controls, so that only the truly unforeseeable excludes the imputation. Finally, the Italian-Spanish framework is compared and the limits of liability insurance when the insured is not responsible are highlighted, proposing property, multi-risk and parametric coverage, with special attention to Combined Agricultural Insurance and the Insurance Compensation Consortium. The case of the Toconao pellets illustrates the challenges of transboundary ecological damage.